Photo by Jim Jung. All rights reserved

Goldenseal

Goldenseal is one of our most valuable woodland herbs. Its berries are are the first of several low-growing species whose berries that will sequentially turn from green to red up until frost.

Goldenseal and Wild Turkeys

While the various woodland species sporting red berries come from disparate and unrelated families of plants, they all share the same unique features of fruit display - their bright red fruit is on a single stalk about ten inches high and in full view of all. This is apparently done for the benefit of Wild Turkeys who eat and then disseminate the seeds throughout the forest since red is a color specifically geared towards birds whose eyes which, unlike those of most mammals, have red color receptors.

Photo by Jim Jung. All rights reserved

A second unique feature of the seeds contained in these various berries is that they all contain hard, thick-walled seeds and all of them require at least two years to germinate when planted by humans. In the case of human-sown Goldenseal seed germination may never occur. It's hypothesized that the grinding and maceration of the fruit in the gizzard of the turkeys - together with digestive enzymes in the stomach - softens the seed coat and hastens germination. Experiments are currently in progress to settle this question.

Herbal importance

Goldenseal is the source plant for two alkaloids: hydrastine and berberine. Until 1960 these two compounds were still listed in the US Pharmacopeia. Today Goldenseal is an important remedy for herbalists treating digestive disorders and liver complaints. Because of this the dried root is in high demand and its price is second only to Ginseng on the herbal remedy market. Consequently the plant has become rather scarce in our area. A recent and widespread belief that Goldenseal cleanses the body of drug residues has proven to be false.

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